This Group Assignment is in two parts:
Part I: What specific questions do you have about sentences in Standard Written English (SWE) that you would like to have answered? Please post three questions about some specific aspect of the SWE sentence. For instance, “what is a run-on?” “What is the difference between a period and a comma?” “What is wrong with this sentence: ‘The is dog cat eating the.'” “If it is possible to start a SWE sentence with the word ‘Because,’ why did my high school English teacher tell me NEVER to do that?” “What is a sentence fragment, and how can I revise these in my writing?” Be creative! Ask anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to know about SWE sentences, and their functions/malfunctions.
Part II: Please read through all of your own and your classmates’ questions posted to GA8. Locate the answer to ONE of your own questions and TWO of your classmates’ questions by looking up the answer to these questions on the Purdue OWL or in your English handbook. Post a brief synopsis of the “answer,” along with a link to the Purdue OWL site or a reference to the page number of your handbook where you located this information.
1.) If it is possible to start a SWE sentence with the word ‘Because,’ why did my high school English teacher tell me NEVER to do that?
2.) What is considered a run on sentence?
There are a few types of Run-on sentences, but overall they contain two independent clauses that aren’t connected by a coordinate conjunction or separated from a semicolon.
You can start a sentence with “Because” as long as you write complete sentences and not sentence fragments
Thanks, Rodrigo!
Thanks, Nina!
Great questions! See below.
1. What are simple and complex sentences? how do they effect my writing?
2. What is the best method for linking sentences so that they relate to one another?
3. When is it really appropriate to use a”/”(forward slash) when writing? whats the difference between it and the words “or, and, also….”?
Answer to 1. A simple sentence is an independent clause that doesn’t rely on the sentence before it to work. Eg: “I Like Cats”. A complex sentence has many independent clauses and at least one clause.
In poetry writing it would be most appropriate to use to slash. There really is no difference between the slash and/or, it is just used as a abbreviations such as w/o = without and generally used to separate the month, day, and year from eachother.
1) Simple sentences are independent clauses which has one subject and one verb.
Complex sentences has one independent clause and multiple dependent clauses.
Complex sentences go more in dept into a certain topic while simple ones don’t.
2)I use commas, semi colons, colons, a relating pronoun or subordinate conjunction.
3) It’s not appropriate for abbreviations. It
is used as a replacement for or.
Thanks!
1. What are some ways to avoid run on sentences?
2. Since the semicolon acts as a period, in what kind of sentence would you use to end a sentence with a semicolon or does it not matter ?
3. When do you use the apostrophe after the word example: mothers’ vs mother’s?
The rule is that the apostrophe goes before the start for a single “owner” and after for more than one “owner “
Nina Lopez
1.) If you have the Good Writing Made Simple English handbook, you can find out steps to solve run-on sentences pages 32-33. The follow steps are from those pages:
Step 1. Connect the two clauses with a true conjunction.
Step 2. Reduce one of the clauses to a phrase, or to a part of the independent clause.
Step 3. Seperate the two clauses with punctuation.
2.) Although a period and a semi-colon have similarities, semicolons are used between two independent clauses.
3.) Apostrophes are used for possession and are in common contractions. The difference between your examples is that one is plural and the other is singular.
Example:
Singular: Sam’s car needs new tires for his car.
Plural: In order for Sam to buy the tires, he will clean his neighbors’ lawns.
Overall, these are really excellent answers! However, regarding your semicolon answer, I would suggest re-writing it to avoid any ambiguity. At the end of a complete sentence, semicolons function as periods; when used in a list, semicolons function as commas. To avoid confusion over the usage of semicolons, I recommend thinking about them as PERIODS rather than commas. I say this for two reasons. First, there are fewer rules for period usage than comma usage, so it is simpler to think of a semicolon as a period than a comma. (I’m hoping this is a logical statement, which it may not be, so please let me know if it isn’t). Second, you are most likely to need to use a semicolon as a special kind of period in your writing, rather than as a special kind of comma.
1.If you use a conjunction word “nor” in a sentence, you also have to use “neither” as well, why don’t we require to use “nor” in a “neither” sentence?
2. How to correctly use the words “affect” and “effect”?
3. Is there any rules to using the words “when”, “while” and “during ” in a sentence? And how to correctly use these three words?
Ping, Could you re-write quesiton #1? I’m not sure what you are asking though I think I may have some sense of what you might be asking.
2/ Look these words up each time you use them until you master the rule for their usage. To this day, I still on occasion confuse them.
3/ Interesting question. I’m not sure. Could you look up the answer? Also, could you please re-write this sentence so the subject and verb match in number???
1. I was told you couldn’t, but then was told that you can, so I want to know, can start a sentence with “And”?
2. Whats the use of a semicolon?
3. What is sentence structure?
The use of a semicolon:
A semicolon can be used between two closely related independent clauses, provided they are not already joined by a coordinating conjunction.
1) No you can’t start with an And in a sentence
2) to connect two incomplete statements/sentences (if the topic is the same)
3) The elements that it takes in order to make a sentence.
Michelle: Your answer to #3 is excellent! I’m going to re-write your answers to #1 and #2 because they are NOT correct. Could you then compare my answers to yours?
1/ You can start a sentence with “And” as long as the word “And” is functioning as a transition word and not as a conjunction in the sentence.
2/ To connect two COMPLETE sentences.
You rarely find a sentence that starts with “and” because this is a word that connects to things together. You have to begin your sentence with another word. The word “and” is usually found in the middle of the sentence. But for those rare occasions you can start like this.
Ex.
“And” is word that is used a lot in the English language.
I think this is correct. Correct me if I’m wrong.
If “and” is being used as a conjunction it CANNOT start a sentence. However, if it is being used as a conjunctive adverb, i.e., in place of “However,” “Therefore,” etc., it can start a sentence.
1.) How can you make sure your topic sentences serve as a good transition from the previous paragraph without being redundant?
2.) Is there a limit of how many times a writer can use conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases? Does it depend on the genre?
3.) Can being too obsessed with the rules of SWE hinder someone as a writer?
2.) *limit to*
1/ Great question!!!! Let’s talk about this in class.
2/ No! However, you always want to watch repeating the same phrase or word in close proximity to another one.
3/ YES!!!!! The rules of SWE are ones that should only be considered during the REVISION PROCESS, not the DRAFTING PROCESS.
1) When is it appropriate to write “cause” in a sentence?
2) When should I use affect/ effect and how to decide which to use?
3) What would you do to avoid writing run-on sentences?
-Michelle Dong
1. What is a run-on sentence?
2. Why were we taught to not start a sentence with because, however etc.
3. Why use a semicolon instead of a period or comma?
My own response to my first question:
– The best way to avoid such errors(run-ons) is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules.
-1. Join the two independent clauses with one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and use a comma before the connecting word.
-2. When you do not have a connecting word (or when you use a connecting word other than and, but, for, or nor, so, or yet between the two independent clauses) use a semicolon (;).
INCORRECT: They weren’t dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise.
CORRECT: They weren’t dangerous criminals; they were detectives in disguise.
INCORRECT: I didn’t know which job I wanted I was too confused to decide.
CORRECT: I didn’t know which job I wanted, and I was too confused to decide.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/
-1 How do I know when I have a complete sentence ?
-2 How do I find and fix my fragments ?
-3 When does a run on sentence occur?
-4 why can’t I start a sentence with a conjunction ?
Great questions!
1/ You know you have a complete sentence in SWE when it adheres to the conventions of complete sentences in SWE. The question is, really, making sure you can RECOGNIZE complete and incomplete sentences in your writing during the revision process. See this resource: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/62/
2/ The answer to this question could be the same as the one to #1. There are also some “tricks” to use to avoid writing fragments. See this resource for some of them: http://www.sargent.nelson.com/bones.html
3/ See all of the great answers from your peers above.
4/ By starting a sentence with a conjunction, you increase the likelihood of writing a sentence fragment, which is why your high school English teacher may have said to “NEVER” start a sentence with “but, and, or so.” However, as we learn in college ;), and probably know in practice, sometimes the words “but, and, and so” function not as conjunctions but rather as transition words.
Natalia, Berenis, Eddie, Michelle, Aida, Rodrigo, Ping, Nina, Epiphany, and Barry:
Thanks for all of these great questions and answers! They are all terrific. After reviewing them, it looks like there are answers to just about every question posted. Would you agree? If not, let me know. And, of course, we will be discussing all of these questions in class next Tuesday.
All best,
Prof. Rodgers
1) What words can i never start a sentence with?
2) In a run-on sentence, if you put a lot of commas in it, will it still be considered a run-on sentence.
3) How can i make my sentence shorter, so that it does not confuse the reader?
ex. “He dropped out of school on account of the fact that it was necessary for him to help support his family.”
ANSWER TO 3)
“He dropped out of school to support his family.”https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/6/9/24
1/ None. However, there are words that you should avoid starting a sentence with in order to prevent yourself from writing sentence fragments. These are: And, But, So, Which, That, Even though, any gerund (living, dying, being, seeming, liking, eating, etc.).
2/ Most often, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3/ I’m going to check out this resource! Thanks!